The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has issued a note of caution against misuse of antibiotics amid rising flu cases in the country.

The mounting infections are due to the H3N2 influenza virus, which lasts between five to seven days, the association said in a statement on Twitter.  IT has pointed out that the flu is seasonal and has advised doctors not to use any antibiotics for its treatment.

IMA pointed out that people have started taking antibiotics like Athreycin and Amoxiclav etc without caring for dose and frequency and they stop once they start feeling better. They added that “this needs to be stopped as it leads to antibiotic resistance.”

“Whenever there will be a real use of antibiotics, they will not work due to the resistance,” the IMA wrote.

“A sudden increase in the number of patients having symptoms of cough, nausea, vomiting, sore throat fever, bodyache and diarrhoea in some cases,” the IMA wrote on Twitter.

“While fever goes away at the end of three days, coughs can persist for three weeks,” it added, advising doctors to avoid prescribing antibiotics to such patients.

It advised medical practitioners to give only symptomatic treatment as there is no need for antibiotics.

Recent data from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) also shows that H3N2 – a sub-type of the influenza virus – has been in wide circulation for the last two-three months.